Rating: 3.5/5 – A solid beginning for a series that’s like a drug-induced hallucination.by ComicSpectrum reviewer Gilad Levin.

Judge Dredd, the bad-ass that we know and love, the hard core enforcer of the law, the man who took down countless thugs… moves to bunny land! This is the basic premise of Judge Dredd: Mega City Two. Dredd moves to Mega-City Two as part of a judicial exchange program (or so we are led to believe) and what does he find there? The polar opposite of Mega-City One; Hollywood, where everything is colorful and crime is almost non-existent!

Ironically, what makes this book work is also what is kind of annoying about it. The story is all about Dredd leaving his comfort zone and operating in a different environment than he’s used to. It is made quite clear from the first page that he as to deal with situations differently from the way he’s used to. I really enjoyed reading it but at the same time, it was very confusing and hard to follow. The story shifts between different places and jumps between different times so often that as much as I tried getting invested in the story, I couldn’t. While the basic story is good and worked for me (for now), I found my periodic confusion to be an indication writer Douglas Wolk could have crafted the story to be a bit clearer. That said, Wolk wrote an entertaining story that made me look forward to the next issue.

The art by Ulises Farinas & Ryan Hill: Oh boy was this art unexpected. I have to admit I did not see this teddy-bear city coming. At first I was really put off by the art, but while reading the book, the art started making sense and I realized how quintessential it was for the progression of the story. Mega-City Two is completely different from Mega-City One and if you don’t understand that yet, just take a look at the second page of the comic. This is Hollywood, California! The city of stars! Even one hun-Dredd years from now it hasn’t changed much…

All in all, Judge Dredd: Mega City Two is off to a good start. The storytelling has some flaws but the book is worth giving a shot. I was a bit confused after reading it the first time, but after re-reading it I understood what was going on a lot better. Hopefully editorial will step in and help with script clarity for the next issue.